What is Said
by headcanon.master
Summary: Yakko has been avoiding Wakko. / High School/Human AU / Yakko/Wakko / Might be continued. If it is, the rating will go up to T or M.
1. Chapter 1

Yakko has been avoiding him.

Was it something he did? Was it something he said?

Wakko racks his brain day and night, searching for a reason for his elder brother to suddenly decide that Wakko wasn't worth his time.

He comes up with nothing.

* * *

Grocery shopping isn't Wakko's favorite chore, but he knows Yakko will appreciate it if he comes home with food. He's used up all the money he'd been saving up (he was saving it for Dot's birthday gift, and he hopes she understands) but at least it means that Yakko won't have to go grocery shopping this week. Maybe he'll stop avoiding him.

He's fumbling with the key in his hand, trying not to drop the eggs that are tucked precariously under his left arm. Their door is broken - you have to turn the key and the doorknob at the same time, which makes this a real hassle when he's trying to hold things at the same time. Wakko thinks maybe they should stop locking it. They don't have anything that a robber would want.

If they do, it must be a pretty pathetic robber who's worse off than they are.

Wakko hears voices - yelling voices - from inside. He leans closer to the door, pressing his ear against it, unable to help himself. His siblings rarely ever fight, so he can't help but wonder what caused this.

"You can't keep ignoring Wakko!" he hears Dot shout. "He thinks you hate him!"

Wakko winces. He won't lie - he definitely does think that.

"Maybe I do, Dot!"

Wakko's eyes widen. Tears sting his eyes, and his arm loosens enough that everything he was carrying - including the eggs - falls to the ground.

Yakko hates him.

"Yakko Warner," Dot says, venom dripping from her tone, "that is the _biggest_ lie I have _ever_ heard anyone say! You love Wakko! You used to dote on him even more than you do me! What happened?!"

Silence. Wakko is about to suck it up and pick everything up and go inside, when suddenly Yakko speaks again.

"I'd rather him think I hate him than know the truth, Dot."

Oh, thank god, he doesn't hate him...

It's just something way worse than that. No big deal.

"What is the truth, Yakko? Tell me what the truth is!"

"Dot, I don't want to-"

"Tell me, Yakko!"

"I can't tell-"

"Tell me, goddammit!"

Wakko gasps softly. Dot rarely curses - she must be _furious_. Better tell him, Yakko...

There's a long, tense silence...

"I'm in love with him, okay? Is that what you wanted, Dot?"

...What?

"What?" he hears Dot say at the same time he thinks it. Her voice is soft, tentative.

"I've been seeing a therapist for it every Saturday, but it's still there," Yakko continues. "He keeps trying to tell me I'm not really in love with him, but I am. I _know_ I am."

"Yakko-"

"He's going to send me to some kind of hospital," Yakko interrupts her. "I don't think it's going to work. But I know it's wrong, and I'm willing to try it. I don't want to feel this way. Please, please Dot, don't tell him? I don't want him to know. Please."

Another tense silence falls. Wakko's heart is racing in his chest.

"...Okay."

He hears Yakko sigh in relief. Wakko swallows thickly. He kneels down and picks everything up, then kicks at the door in lieu of knocking. It's what he should have done in the first place.

It takes a moment, but Yakko comes to the door. Something in his gaze shuts down when he sees Wakko, and immediately he walks away.

The work of that therapist, Wakko thinks.

Wakko enters their tiny apartment quietly, staring down at the floor as he heads over to the kitchen. Dot looks at him, as if she knows that he knows - but nothing is said.

Nothing is said.


	2. Chapter 2

"It's an early college course."

Wakko bit his lip. He knew the real reason Yakko was leaving for a month (if not more). But he nodded, pretending to believe his brother's lies. "Does the school know?" he asked innocently.

"Y-yeah. The principal's been notified..."

The look in Yakko's eye made him unsure as to whether or not he was telling the truth. Was he worried because he'd get caught in a lie, or was he worried because the students of their school may overhear the staff gossiping one day?

Wakko sighed softly after being unable to deduce it. "Well, good luck."

An idea suddenly entered his mind. "Why don't Dot and I go with you? I mean, we only have one car! I have my license so I can drive us back home when we've dropped you off."

Unfortunately, Yakko shook his head. "A bus is gonna come pick me up. It's something they do for low-income families." After a moment, he added, "I told my boss at the restaurant that either you or Dot would be able to take my place while I'm gone. I'm hoping it'll be you. I don't trust that she wouldn't get hurt around all those fryers."

Since they did need the money they got from Yakko's job, Wakko nodded. "Sure. No problem."

Yakko sighed softly in relief. "Good."

And with that, Yakko turned and left Wakko's room. (It had previously been Wakko's and Yakko's, but nowadays Yakko had taken to sleeping on the living room floor...)

Wakko sighed, and curled up on his side, looking at his bare wall and trying his best to go to sleep and not think of the reason Yakko was leaving.

Neither thing happened that night.

* * *

The next morning - that's right, Yakko delayed telling Wakko until about 12 hours before he'd leave - Wakko and Dot stood with Yakko outside their apartment building, waiting for the bus that would take Yakko away. Wakko did his best to pretend that he'd gotten a good enough sleep the previous night, but Dot didn't seem fooled - not that she said anything.

After about a half hour of waiting, the bus finally pulled up, sporting the logo and address of the hospital on the side. Wakko saw a flash of worry in Yakko's eye, as if Wakko would later google the address and discover that he'd been lying.

He wouldn't. But he'd remember that address anyway.

You know. To send letters.

"I'll be back soon," Yakko said, not looking at either of his siblings. He picked up his bag - packed with just two outfits and an old book - and carried it onto the bus.

Wakko and Dot waved as the bus drove off, until it was just a speck in the distance. Then they turned and trudged their way inside, silent.

Wakko knew that Dot wouldn't try and tell him the real reason Yakko had left. And he knew he couldn't tell her that he knew, because then she'd want to know why he hadn't said anything.

And his answer would be that he didn't know.

He didn't know why he hadn't said anything.

He didn't know how he felt about Yakko's feelings.

He didn't know how he felt about _Yakko._

But he didn't want to face the fact that he didn't know. So for now, he'd be silent, until he did know.


	3. Chapter 3

Wakko fiddles with his pencil. His brother has been gone for a week. He's decided that it's high time he write a letter to him.

Problem is, he doesn't know what to write.

'How are you' seems too formal to start out with, and it gets scratched out. 'I know how you feel' is too sudden. 'How are classes going' goes along with the lie too much and somehow seems suspicious to his eye.

He sighs, and puts his pencil down. He stands up from the cold, hard floor, and looks absently around the room.

It's nearly bare. The walls are a boring white, his bed is sheetless and pillowless. There's a wastebasket, but even that only has a card in it-

A card?

Wakko rushes over to the wastebasket and pulls out the business card. "Doctor Scratchansniff... Psychologist and psychiatrist... Didn't even know you could be both at once," Wakko mumbles, before realizing that this guy must be the 'therapist' Yakko had been seeing.

And suddenly, Wakko decides that he needs to see this guy, too.

* * *

Yakko smiles weakly at everyone in the session, gives his name and his reason for being there. One of the other guys raises his hand. "Yes, Pesto?" the therapist says in a soothing tone.

"So, are you here cause you've hurt him?" Pesto asks Yakko. "Your brother?"

"No," Yakko says, "I'm here because my feelings are wrong."

"We come here to get help for things that are hurting us or hurting others," Pesto snaps, and Yakko sees him squeezing a small stress ball. "Feelings aren't hurting anyone as long as you can keep 'em cooped up."

"And what if I can't?" Yakko retorts. "What if I do end up losing control and kissing him or, or worse?"

"That is a very good point, Yakko," the therapist says. "It's good that you chose to come here and get help before your problem worsens. In addition, it's very likely that you're-"

"I definitely do love him," Yakko interrupts. "I'm not pushing my feelings for something else onto him, I'm not making platonic feelings into romantic ones. I love him. I'm here because I don't _want_ to love him."

The therapist scribbles something on his clipboard, and Yakko sighs.

This is going to be a long stay, he thinks, if they expect him to say that he doesn't actually love Wakko. He knows the difference between platonic and romantic feelings - he loves Dot platonically, but he loves Wakko romantically. He knows this. He also knows that this is wrong.

That's why he's here.

* * *

Wakko enters the building, going right up to the counter. He recognizes the woman at the counter from school - she must go here after school is done.

"Hello, Miss Nurse," he says politely. "I'm here to see Doctor Scratchansniff."

"Do you have an appointment?" When he shakes his head, the woman sighs. "I'm afraid he's booked solid for most of the afternoon, but if you don't mind waiting a while he should be able to fit you in for thirty minutes."

"I don't mind."

"Then you can have a seat over there," she says, motioning towards the sitting area. Wakko obediently walks over to the chairs, sitting down and turning his attention to some cartoon playing on the TV.

It does little to distract him from the reason he knows he's here.


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Check out my Animaniacs RP forum! I only have one RP ready to be joined but eventually I will add more!**

"So, tell me your name," the doctor says to Wakko as he sits down in the large, plush chair.

"Wakko," he replies. It makes the doctor pause.

"By chance, would you perhaps be Yakko's brother?"

Wakko simply nods in reply. It gets him to sit up straighter all the same.

"I know why he went away," Wakko says. "You don't have to lie to me."

Doctor Scratchansniff sighs. "I told him not to tell you-"

"He didn't. I overheard him telling my sister."

"That is really not much better." Still, the doctor scribbles something on his clipboard. "Would you mind telling me why you've come to see me?"

Wakko considers the real reason he's here, then pulls out a pencil and paper instead. "I want you to help me write a letter to my brother."

The doctor's eye twitches. "Wakko, I'm not here to guide you in writing a letter. I'm here for people who have real issues."

"This is a real issue!" Wakko insists.

The doctor eyes him carefully, seeming to weigh his options before heaving a sigh. "Fine. What have you got?"

"Dear Yakko," Wakko deadpans. When the doctor sits quietly, waiting for more, he clarifies, "That's it."

The doctor groans.

* * *

"I want you to come back next week, Wakko," the doctor says as he's ready to leave, finished letter in hand.

"Why? Think I'll need help with another letter?"

"Wakko, people don't come to see me because they want help with letters," Doctor Scratchansniff says. "You said you know how your brother feels, correct?"

When Wakko nods, the doctor continues, "I think you're having some trouble processing that - processing your feelings about it. I want to help you with that, okay?"

Wakko hesitates, then nods in agreement.

And he leaves, unsure of whether or not he'll actually even show up.

Showing up would imply that he knows whatever he feels isn't right. But if he doesn't know that, if he doesn't know how he feels, should he bother showing up?

A question for a philosopher, perhaps, but not for him.

He decides that he'll come back to it when it's actually time for him to go.


End file.
